VIRGINIA WATER, England — All Rory McIlroy wanted to do was take refuge on the golf course, inside the ropes, and play the first round of the rest of his life at the BMW PGA Championship, the European Tour’s flagship event.

So what happened? His tee time Thursday at Wentworth’s West Course was pushed back almost an hour because of bad weather, and he endured another lengthy weather delay after putting out for a par on his opening hole.

It was like a scene from the movie “Young Frankenstein,” with McIlroy and his caddie, J. P. Fitzgerald, in the roles of Igor and Dr. Frederick Frankenstein in the cemetery, digging away.

Igor: Could be worse.

Frankenstein: How?

Igor: Could be raining.

Cue thunder, lightning and heavy precipitation.

The day after announcing the end of his five-month engagement to the tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, whom he had dated since 2011, McIlroy found some semblance of normalcy with a four-under-par 68.

“At times, it was difficult,” McIlroy said. “Once I got over the shot and start concentrating on the shot, it got easier.”

McIlroy is six strokes behind the leader, Thomas Bjorn of Denmark. Thirty-three players did not finish before dark. Bjorn completed his course-record 62 several minutes before McIlroy was scheduled to tee off. Bjorn, 43, was signing his scorecard when the siren sounded to stop play, prompting Stephen Gallacher to wryly remark, “You’re not having a very bad day, are you?’”

It has been a dreadful week for McIlroy, a two-time major winner and former world No. 1 who broke up with Wozniacki after the invitations for their November wedding had been mailed, saying he was not ready for marriage.

He expected his mind to wander on the course. To keep the outside distractions to a minimum, McIlroy, 25, has resorted to measures unheard-of among his peers. “I haven’t turned on my phone,” he said. “I’ve given my laptop away. I’m sort of living like I’m in the ’70s again, the ’60s.”

His score wound up in the 60s on the strength of two eagles. On the par-4 seventh, McIlroy holed his 130-yard second shot using a pitching wedge. The ball landed on the back fringe and rolled into the cup as if by magnetic force. McIlroy, who was at par at the time, raised his arms and grinned.

On the 520-yard 12th, he hit a 5-iron second shot from 203 yards to less than a foot and tapped in for an eagle 3. In its magnificence, the shot was reminiscent of the 5-wood McIlroy hit from the 18th fairway during the final round of this year’s Honda Classic to give himself an eagle putt for a playoff berth.

McIlroy said he could not remember the last time he had two eagles in one round. Over all, he said, “I didn’t feel like I did that much wrong.”

He added: “I think that was the one thing that pleased me a lot. I scored well. It’s something I wasn’t doing at this time last year.”

McIlroy posted rounds of 74 and 75 here last year and missed the cut. That week also found McIlroy embroiled in off-the-course drama as he was in the midst of a messy breakup with his management company.

“Once I get on that first tee, my mind is focused on shooting the best score possible and that has not changed and that will never change,” McIlroy said then.

Posting low scores has not been a problem in 2014 for McIlroy, who has a handful of top-10 finishes. The challenge has been to string together four fine rounds. He tied for seventh at the Houston Open with a third-round 74, tied for eighth at the Masters with a second-round 77, tied for eighth at the Wells Fargo Championship with a second-round 76 and tied for sixth at the Players Championship with a second-round 74.

The end of his relationship with Wozniacki, which came five months after his New Year’s Eve proposal in Sydney, Australia, was amicable, he said, but that does not make it any less awkward. They were a high-profile couple that embraced social media — at the risk of their relationship’s being suffocated by it.

McIlroy might have quietly ended the engagement, allowing the couple to suffer in relative peace. Asked why he chose to go public with the news of their breakup, he said: “I guess it was played out in the media so much it was probably the best way to do it. It was the natural thing to do, I guess.”

On Wednesday, as the news spread of the split of the couple known as Wozzilroy, Sergio García expressed empathy for McIlroy. García has endured high-profile breakups with the tennis player Martina Hingis and Morgan-Leigh Norman, the daughter of the golfer Greg Norman.

“I haven’t seen Rory since I heard the news,” García said, “but when I do, I will put my arm around his shoulder and ask if he wants to talk about it.”

After opening with a 73, García withdrew because of an injury to his left kneecap. McIlroy, meantime, will tee off Friday with a modest goal. “I’ll be delighted,” he said, “to make it to the weekend.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B13 of the New York edition with the headline: Inside the Ropes, McIlroy Is Keeping It Together. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe